Awesome....I was wondering about that - thanks for the explanation. My second question relates sort of to gimp and sort of to linux...I currently use a kb and trackball setup to do my work in gimp...I've been drooling over tablet/pen setups on newegg for about a month now, trying to convince myself I don't need one...I'm currently running kubuntu 9.04 and right now I'm seeing that the only things close to my affordable price range is the (tiny) wacom Bamboo (5.8" x 3.6") for $69.99 US or the Genius G-Pen F450 (4" x 5.5") for $39.99 US...I know that Wacom is /the/ name in pen tablets, and I really would prefer something larger but can't afford a big one right now...my two questions are: Is the Genius G-pen compatible with (k)ubuntu linux that you know of, and/or are there any issues with it that anyone knows about? And, will such a small work area on the tablet itself adversely affect my efforts in learning? I suppose the answer may be to just wait until I can afford a nicer Intuos, but the biggest differences between the two currently in my range are the fact that the Genius is slightly larger, but it has 1024 levels of pressure where as the Bamboo only has 512 levels....I figure with the Genius being cheaper (by almost half) there may be underlying issues that I'm not aware of or able to find through my various google searches.

Any help on this will be most appreciated.

Thanks to all for the warm welcome, the kind words and the awesome help!

Tal